Aston Martin Racing Spotted Testing New Innovation

Teaming up with Hanergy Thin Film Power, Aston Martin took this opportunity to share its new found partnership. It displayed the solar panels on its Vantage GTE during a practice session prior to the race to test a V8 Vantage GTE, using energy from the sun to power its auxiliary systems.

Dan Sayers, Aston Martin Racing technical director, said “The idea behind the solar technology project is to help develop and demonstrate the potential of the Hanergy thin film photovoltaic panels for use on both race and road vehicles. The electricity generated by the cells can then be used to power auxiliary systems, for example the air conditioning system, that currently consumes power from the engine.”

In an effort to collect further data the thin solar panels, designed by Hanergy Thin Film Power, were connected by the team to the roof of the V8 Vantage for the last four rounds of the WEC. In the early stages of research and development this technology, for racing, could be extremely important for current auxiliary technology with the end result creating a more self-sustaining and efficient power source.

Looking further into the future, the development of this technology could lead to its use to power such things as air-conditioning systems and electrical set-ups in the Aston Martin line-up. As Aston Martin has not swayed from its naturally aspirated engines for its production road cars, solar technology could play a major role in reducing its overall carbon footprint and improve the Aston Martins fuel efficiency and consumption. What are your thoughts?

Will we see more in the automobile industry moving towards this developing technology as a way to reduce overall fuel consumption and improve efficiency?